Verb drill
Futur simple questions and negatives: a sentence drill
Turn French future statements into questions and negatives. Practise est-ce que, inversion, linking t, elision and object-pronoun order.
- A2
- 8 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
Put ne … pas around the future verb: je ne partirai pas. To ask a question, keep ordinary word order, add est-ce que, or use inversion: tu partiras ?, est-ce que tu partiras ?, partiras-tu ?
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| Pattern | French | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary order | Vous viendrez lundi ? | Common in conversation |
| Est-ce que | Est-ce que vous viendrez lundi ? | A clear yes/no question |
| Inversion | Viendrez-vous lundi ? | Often used in careful speech and writing |
Where does the negation go in the futur simple?
An object pronoun goes before the verb, after ne. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’.
Je ne lui répondrai pas ce soir.
I won’t reply to him or her this evening.
Nous n’irons pas ensemble.
We won’t go together.
How do you ask a question in the futur simple?
Third-person singular future forms end in a vowel. Add the linking -t- before il, elle or on. Plural -ont already has its t.
Arrivera-t-elle avant nous ?
Will she arrive before us?
Arriveront-ils avant nous ?
Will they arrive before us?
Use one question frame
After est-ce que, keep subject–verb order. When qui is the subject, it stands directly before the verb.
Est-ce qu’il participera ?
Will he take part?
Qui participera ?
Who will take part?
In the drill, the cue fixes the pattern. Keep the original subject, tense and information. Write a whole sentence for the first four prompts, then complete the shorter gaps. Use the full written negative, including ne or n’.
1 · Transform the statement · write the whole sentence
- Je travaillerai lundi. → (négation)
- Vous viendrez demain. → (est-ce que)
- Tu finiras à midi. → (inversion)
- Il ira avec nous. → (inversion)
2 · Keep the small words in place
- Je demain. (ne… pas + lui + téléphoner, futur)
- Nous ce soir. (ne… pas + vous + répondre, futur)
- Quand ? (inversion : vous commencerez)
- Qui la présentation ? (faire, futur)